Pane



c. s. BARRows- PANE Filed July 15, 1952 Jan. 22, :1935.

l l I BNVENTOR arifs 530275 arraws ,ff zf.

ATTORN EY Pntented Jen. 22, 1935 n l1,988,964

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PANE v Charles Storrs Barrows, Rochester, N. Y.

Application July 15, 1932, Serial No. 622,677 9 Claims. (CL Ztl-56.5)

This invention relates to panes such as those washing of the inner window surfaces although used in Windows and skylights for example. An they are not suiilciently tight to prevent access of object of the invention is the provision of a simdirt and soot to these surfaces. ple and satisfactory pane providing a high degree As distinguished from the conventional storm of insulation, both thermal and acoustical. Windows, the present invention provides insult- 5 Another object is the provision of such a pane ing panes permanently made up in units which, which may be easily and rapidly made and which when once applied to the Window frames, need is adaptable to mass production methods of not later be disturbed. It is intended that such manufaoture, window panes according to the present invention l0 Still another object is the provision of an insushould be left in place indefinitely, providing perl0 lating pane which may be either clear so as not manent insulation not only against loss of heat to interfere with vision, or dispersive to a greater during winter, but also against ingress of heat or less extent, or colored, as desired under any during Summer. particular oiroumstanoes- The window panes of the present invention pro- To these and other ends the invention resides Vide not only thermal insulation but also a high l5 in certain improvements and combinations of degree of acoustical insulation, so that street parts. all as will be hereinafter more fully de- 'noises and the like are largely kept out of the scribed, the novel features being pointed out in room- IiikeWise, if these improved Danes be used `the claims at the end of the specification. in glazing office partitions or the like, the noise In the drawing: of one room will be kept out of the adjacent room 20 Fig. 1 is a face view of a pane constructed in to a large extent. accordance with one possible embodiment of the According to the present invention, the iminvention; proved window pane comprises two sheets of suit- Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic cross section on a able strong and stili translucent material such somewhat enlarged scale through a fragment of es glass, superimposed upon eaoh other and 25 a pane constructed in accordance with one emspaeed a Slight distance from each other. The

bodlment of the invention; extent of the spacing may be varied as desired, but

Fig, 3 is a Similar View showing another em it is ordinarily preferred to have this space relabodimont of the invention; I tively small, say not over 1A of an inch and some- Fig. 4 is a similar view showing a third emboditimes as little as 1h01' il; 0i' an inch. 30 ment of the invention; Between these two sheets, preferably of glass, Fig 5 is a similmviow showing a fom-th omis placed one or more sheets of a translucent bodiment of the invention, and material other than class, which may be a rein- Fig. 6 is a view illustrating a special form of tively Weak or fragile material, preferably of a edge binding strip which may be used if desired. eellulesie nature For example, the intermediate as The same reference numerals throughout the Sheet 01 sheets may he of waxed Paper or 818sseveral views indicate the same parts. Sine paper, but it is preferred to employ the Cel- As is well known, Yo. large proportion of the lulosic transparent or translucent sheets widely heat lost through the walls of. a. building in winter known and oommonly available on the market.

4o is 10st through the window panes. 'rtfounws that This intermediate Sheet is relatively thin in 4o any insulating pane which will cut down the Comparison to the thickness 01' the space between transmission of heat to a substantial extent and the glass Sheets, and by no means 1111s such space yet which is suiciently simple and cheap to perbut 0n the Contrary Subdivides it into a plurality mit of wide installation, will be of tremendous 0f separate compartments, greatly increasing the economie advantage, insulating effect. Theweak'or fragile nature of 4,5

Various attempts have heretofore been made to the intermediate Sheet iS not detrimental Since it provide thermal insulation of windows, but for is between and protected by the relatively stronger one reason or another they have not been wholly Sheets of gie-SS 0r the like. Which give the necessary successful. It is known, of course, to utilize storm strength and rigidity to the Compound Structure windows or supplemental window sash placed and Whioh keep the intermediate sheet from re- 50 usually on the exterior of the regular window sash ceivng impacts 0i' strains- The use of material during the winter months. Such storm windows other than glass for the intermediate Sheet 0r have disadvantages, however, in that they need to sheets is advantageous, since a Sheet of the Cellube put up and taken down each year, and they losic material mentioned may be thinner and interfere with ventilation and hamper adequate lighter than any glass sheet which could be con- Q5 veniently handled during the assembling of the pane at the factory. Also, cellulosic material is believed to be a somewhat poorer conductor of heat than an equal thickness of glass, thus being somewhat more emcient as an insulator.

If a clear colorless rane is desired, both glass platesmaybeofclrsmoothglassandinthe intermedinteshef-t of suitable material may likewise be clear and transparent. If a colored pane is desired, it may be conveniently and inexpensively producenI by using a colored intermediate layer, without going to the expense of coloring the glass sheets. If it is desired to have a pane that will disperse the light to some extent, either or both of the glass sheets may be of a suitable known dispersing kind of giass, or one or more of the intermediate sheets may be deformed. distorted, or crinkled as mentioned below to provide e dispensing effect.

The term translucen as used inthlis speciand the claims is intended in a broad generic sense as including articles which are truly Where only a single intermediate sheet l2 of fiat or undistorted material is used, as in Fig. 2, it is preferably spaced from both of the glass pistes by suitable spacers such as those shown at 13 and 14, running around preferably all four edges of the pane. Suitable holding means is also provided for holding the glass plates and intermerhate sheet permanently to each other, so that they may be handled as a unit and may be conveniently shipped from the factory and put in place in the Window frame. This holding means, for esample, may be in the form of an adhesive. For instance, the spacing members 13 and 14 may be strips of felt paper or the like, and they may impregnated with a tacky adhesive such for example as asphalt-um, which will hold each spacing strip firmly to one side of the intermediste sheet 12 and to the adjacent glass sheet. Or, as another example, both the spacing and adhesive functions may be performed by a layer or layers of any suitable caulking compound which stays plastic, which is waterproof, and which will adherente glass.

In some instances, the use of adhesive alone Mmay be not suiiiciently substantial, and suppleedge binding suchas shown at 16 in Fig. 2, ex-

tending across the edge and overlaping the opposite sides of the structure a short distance, as

binding maybe placed only at intervals around the periphery of the structure, or may extend continuously around the periphery. It may consist, as preferred, of whe clips'or a metal strip held on by friction or otherwise, or a paper or fabric strip held on by adhesive for example.

The glass sheets l0 and 11 are spaced so close together that they may be conveniently handled as a unit and easily glazed in the conventional manner for single sheets of glass. The space between the plates of the composite pane is so small, especially when subdivided by the intermediate sheet 12, that air currents within this space are materially impeded, and thus the cony neat across 4crown a similar n 'oni the conv the like are indicated at 20 and 2l, and .fo intermediate layers of any available transparent sheet of cellulose or other suitable material are shown at 22 and 23, spacers 24, 25, and 26 being employed to hold the intermediate sheets not only from each other but also from the adjacent glass surfaces. It is understood that here, as in the construction shown in Fig. 2, the intermediate sheets are preierably stretched tightly across the width and length of the glass sheets so that they do not come into contact with the glass sheets at any point. Any suitable edge binding 27 may be employed if desired. y

By using more than one intermediate partition sheet, the insulating efficiency of the composite structure is increased, due not only to the insulating eil'ect of the additional partition itself, but also to the increased number of separate compartments into which the space between the glass plates is subdivided.

Fig. 4 shows still another embodiment of the invention, which may be used with some increase in efficiency where clear vision through the pane is not essential. Here, the glass sheets are illustrated at 30 and 3l, and the intermediate sheet at 32. stead of being a plain fiat sheet, is distorted or crinkled so as to have a multitude of creases preferably extending heterogeneously in all directions, such as would be produced by crunching up a sheet of cellulosic material or the like into a ball and then spreading` it out again. It is found by tests that such a crinkled intermediate sheet does not interfere seriously with vision through the pane, but does disperse and distort the light passing through it `to some extent. It is also found that there is some increase in the insulating eiilciency of a composite pane made in this' way, because the intermediate space be= tween the glass plates is further broken up into Ia great number of small cells or compartments.

since the intermediate sheet contacts with the glass sheets at various irregular points and is free from the glass sheets at other irregular points. Hence panes constructed in this way are especially suitable for skylights where vision is not important but where heat losses are often excessive, and for factory windows where adequate light must enter but where external views need not be perfectly clear. In fact, the slight dispersive or distortive effect of the crinkled intermediate layer may be an actual advantage in some types ofl windows, where strong concentrated light not desired.

The use of an intermediate layer of crinkled material has the further advantage that it reflects light (and apparently also heat) to a materially greater extent than a plain uncrinlrled intermediate layer, and adds considerably to the life or brilliancy of the pane. For instance.

when the pane is used in the window of a room, any color or design present in or on the pane is seen clearly from the outside by reflected light, as well as from the inside by transmitted light, and the color or design does not have the dull` This intermediate sheet, however, in-

Lacasse and at appearance se citen present in ordinary colored window panes.

The nndulations in Fig. e are largely diagram matic, it being understood that in actual use the undulations of the crinkled sheet may be irregular and angular or may be in the forni or" a regular or irregular pattern.

The speningrnember is nlustrated in Fig. 4. Only one. spacing member been shown on one side of the intermediate sheet, because the crinkled nature of the sheet makes itimmaterial whether the edges of the sheet are held midway between the two glass plates, or whether they be in Contact with one of the glass plates as shown. An edge binding strip o any suitable form may be used if desired, and is ire dicated at 35.

Fig. l of the drawing is a diagrammatic face view of the embodiment shown'in Fig. e, with part of the front glass plate theoretically broken away to show the crinkled nature of the intermediate layer 32.

In Fig. there is shown still another embodiment of the invention, quite similar. to that of Fig. 4, but employing a plurality of intermediate layers instead of only a single layer. The glass sheets are shown at 40 and 41, and two intermediate layers of crinkled sheet material are indicated at 42 and 43, and are held between spacers 44 and 45. An edge binding 46 may be employed if desired.

'Ihe intermediate sheets 42 and 43 in this embodiment are preferably both crinkled as in the case of the intermediate sheet 32 in the previous embodiment. The eiilciency of the insulating pane is thus greatly increased, since the intermediate space between the glass sheets is broken up into a very large number of cells or compartments, communicating more or less with each other, but nevertheless greatly impeding the air currents which would otherwise act to transfer heat from one glass sheet to the other. As in the case of Fig. 4, Fig. 5 is largely diagrammatic,

the actual crinkled sheets being frequently crinkled irregularly and angularly,'though the undulations may be regular or in the desired pattern ifprefer'red. i

As stated above, any suitable form of holding means for the edges of the composite structure may be employed. Instead oi using spacing strips, either with or without'adhesive, it may be desirable, for example, to employ a unitary metallic molding, which not only holds the glass sheets to each other but also acts to hold the intermediate layer or layers and to space it'or them from the glass sheets. For example, as shown in Fig. 6, there are two glass sheets 50 and 51 held by a metallic molding 52 having U-shaped portions to receive the edges of the glass plates and being doubled back upon itself to provide an intermediate bead 53 between the glass plates for receiving the edge of the intermediate sheet 54. If. a molding of this kind is used, without other spacing means, it preferably extends continuously around the entire periphery of the composite structure, so as to exclude dust from the space between the panes. Where spacing strips, as shown in Figs. 2 to 5 inclusive are used, however, the supplemental holding means or edge binding, if any is used, need not necessarily extend continuously around the periphery, since the spacing strips themselves will tightly close the space between the glass plates and prevent dust or dirt from entering the space.

From the foregoing description, it is seen that form of any ite pane which can be easily manufactured. readny snipped, and easily gazed m substanuauy the sameway that the conventional single` panes of glass are glazed. It may stay permanently in place since dust and dirt are excluded from the inside surfaces of theglass, and these surfaces will remain clean indefinitely. High thermal and acoustical insulation is provided by these panes, the thermal insulation feature resulting in great economic savings especially in cold climates where heating is an expensive item.

It is also seen that in each oi the embodiments of the invention heretofore described, the inter mediate layer or layers may be said to be freely spaced at least in part from one or both of the glass plates. When the intermediate layers are of crinkled form as in Figs. 4 and 5, they contact with the glass plates or with other intermediate layers at various points, but between these contacting points they are spaced from the glass plates or other intermediate layers. By the term freely spaced as used here and in the accompany'ing claims, it is meant that there is at least some free space between the parts thus described; that is, that the space between them is not solidly lled up with other solid material.

While certain embodiments of the invention have been disclosed, it is to be understood that the inventive idea may be carried out in a nurn-v ber of ways. This application is therefore not to be limited to the precise details described, but

is intended to cover all variations and modincations thereof falling within the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

I claim: 1. A composite pane comprising two spaced sheets of glass permanently secured to each other and a sheet of material other than glass between said glass sheets and spaced at a multiplicity of intervals from one ofy said glass sheets and extending toward said one of said glass sheets at a multiplicity of intervals between said spaced 2. A composite unitary ready-to-apply insulating paneMccmpi-ising two sheets of glass spaced intervals.

from and permanently secured to each other, and

a crinkled sheet of translucent material between g said glass sheets and contacting with them substantially only at spaced points.

3. A composite unitary ready-to-apply insulating pane comprising two sheets of glass spaced from and permanently secured to each other, and a sheet of readily flexible cellulosic material between said glass plates and freely spaced at intervals from both of them and in contact with one of them at other points.

4. A composite unitary4 ready-to-apply insulating pane comprising two sheets of glass spaced from and permanently secured to each other. and a plurality of crinkled sheets of translucent material other than glass interposed between said glass sheets.

5. A composite unitary ready-to-apply insulating pane comprising two sheets of glass spaced from and permanently secured to each other, and a pluralityl of crinkled sheets of translucent material interposed between said glass sheets and each covering substantially the entire area of said glass sheets.

6. A composite insulating pane comprising two sheets ot relatively strong and stin'translucent material spaced from each other. and a sheet of relatively weaker and more ilexible translucent cellulosic material substantially thinner than the thickness of the space between the stii sheets, interposed between said sheets to tend to diminish air currents in said space. Y

7. A composite insulating pane comprising two sheets of glass superimposed on'one4 another, a crinkled sheet of translucent material other than glass interposed between said glass sheets, a spacing member between said inteiposed sheet and.

at least one of said glass sheetsadjacent the edges thereof, and means for holding said glass sheets and interposed sheet together.

'8. A construction comprising two sheets ot glass spaced from and permanently secured to each other, and a sheet of relativelythin iiexible selfthat different portions of said relatively thin sheet lie at different distances from one of said inflexible Sheets.

CHARLES STORRS BARROWB. 

